Living Trusts for Everyone: Why a Will is Not the Way to Avoid Probate, Protect Heirs, and Settle Estates

The misconceptions surrounding the last will and testament need to be put to rest: Wills benefit lawyers. Trusts benefit you. Period. Too often lawyers sell wills to clients only to sit back and wait to sell their probate services to their client’ s heirs. Modern estate planning should utilize the Living Trust as the effective, efficient, and inexpensive alternative to a will. Living Trusts for Everyone: Why a Will is Not the Way to Avoid Probate, Protect Heirs, and Settle Estates explains why wills are not the best way to handle an estate and details the many advantages trusts have over wills in not only eliminating probate, but protecting your assets for your heirs. Anyone with minor children, disabled beneficiaries, blended families, or spendthrift heirs must have a trust to be sure the assets left behind are put to good use, and that your intentions are carried out. Lawyers may have vested interests in perpetuating the probate system, but this book will explain why legal services are not needed to do the clerical work in settling a trust after death. No legal jargon or confusing double-speak, just specific step-by-step instructions and sample form letters to settle a trust are included to take the mystery out of the process. This is not a do-it-yourself book and it doesn’t try to cram every type of trust onto its pages. Living Trusts for Everyone explains in specific terms what benefit a trust will have for you and gives you the tools to settle a loved one’s trust with no lawyers and no expense. For those who already have a trust, there is a list of what to look for to see if your trust is any good, or if it needs to be updated. Trust seminars are examined with warnings on what to look out for in setting up your trust. Everyone who cares about what happens to their assets at death should read Living Trusts for Everyone: Why a Will is Not the Way to Avoid Probate, Protect Heirs, and Settle Estates!

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Ronald Farrington Sharp is an attorney with offices in Michigan, now concentrating in and handling cases only in the areas of Trusts, Estate Planning, and Probate. Sharp established his firm in 1975. His company works closely on a referral basis with financial planners, insurance professionals, accountants and estate planners in developing a comprehensive estate plan package. For the first half of his career Mr. Sharp specialized in family law and divorce, in the past ten years gradually shifting the focus of the practice to estate planning. Since then, Mr. Sharp has personally prepared over three thousand trusts and estate plans. His first book with Allworth Press, Winning the Divorce War, was published in 1998, with a second edition in 2005. Ronald Sharp is married with three adult children and one grandchild and he divides his time between Michigan and Florida.